NASCAR Shares Emotional Tribute to Late Driver Greg Biffle at Daytona 500 After His Death

NASCAR is honoring the late former driver Greg Biffle two months after he died in a plane crash.

The three-minute tribute aired via FOX on Sunday, February 15, during the live Daytona 500 coverage, with Biffle’s loved ones sharing memories of their friend, coworker and family member.

“Greg Biffle was the most talented guy I’ve ever worked with. He had speed, he was fearless, he was smart … He never found himself in a situation that he didn’t think he could win. He always got the most out of the car and that’s the ultimate driver,” Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines, said in the video.

“He had supreme confidence in himself,” Biffle’s Roush Racing teammate Jeff Bourton added. “He would put his car in places that others wouldn’t.”

Fellow teammate Matt Kenseth noted, “He was a fierce driver. Winning was above everything else.”

Biffle’s niece, Jordyn, went on to recall how her uncle gave back after the devastation of Hurricane Helene in 2024.

“His instinct was, ‘We can get in the helicopter and we can go look. Let’s try to see what the situation looks like and what we can do to help,’” she recalled, while friend Cleetus McFarland added, “He paid for all the fuel that went into my helicopter, he was the one who gathered the supplies at first. He was going above and beyond just one guy in a helicopter.”

While Jordyn shared that racing was a “huge piece” of Biffle’s life, she noted that “helping people hands down is where he found a lot of joy.”

News broke in December 2025 that a plane belonging to Biffle crashed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff at the Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina.

“At approximately 10:15 am, an aircraft crashed while landing,” airport officials told The Charlotte Observer in a statement on Thursday. “Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is en route and will investigate the incident.”

While the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office confirmed there were fatalities at the crash but didn’t reveal further details, the Biffle’s family friend shared that the athlete and his family were part of the seven people on board who died. (Biffle was married to wife Cristina, with whom he shared daughter Emma, 14, and son Ryder, 5.)

“Unfortunately, I can confirm Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, daughter Emma and son Ryder were on that plane … because they were on their way to spend the afternoon with us,” Garrett Mitchell shared via Facebook. “We are devastated. I’m so sorry to share this.”

Earlier this month, a preliminary investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board determined that Biffle was not at the controls when his plane crashed. Retired pilot Dennis Dutton was flying the plane and his son, Jack Dutton, was his co-pilot, according to the NTSB’s report, released in January.

The report claimed that Dennis was licensed to fly the Cessna 550 aircraft, provided he had a qualified co-pilot. Jack, meanwhile, was not qualified. The report noted that Dennis was flying the plane when it took off before temporarily handing the controls to his son and then taking them back as he tried to land the aircraft.

After discovering a malfunction with the altimeter and determining the “left side flight instruments may not have been working properly,” they tried to return to the airport.

“Both engines remained attached to the pylon structures and both thrust reversers were found in the stowed position,” the report continued. “There was no evidence of uncontained engine failure with either engine.”

As the plane tried to land, the aircraft struck trees and light stanchions outside of the airport. The plane then went through a fence that separates the airport from the main road. The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation.